Unemployment rate falls in 23 states in September

Unemployment dropped in 23 states and Washington, D.C., in September, which was the most since June, according to USA Today. The declines were nearly double the number reported in August.

Additionally, unemployment rose in 11 states and was unchanged in 16 states in September. There was little hiring, with payrolls decreasing in 34 states and increasing in 16 states and the district.

The falling jobless rates may in part result from workers who have stopped searching for jobs and left the labor force.

Among the nine Census Bureau regions, the Mountain West region had the largest increase in unemployment from a year earlier, jumping from 8.7 percent to 9.3 percent. The East South Central region had the largest drop from a year earlier, falling from 10.7 percent to 9.5 percent.